In a normal game of poker, people sit together at a table with a deck of cards. Each player takes a turn dealing the cards clockwise beginning at the left of the dealer until all players have a designated number of cards. The player to the left of the dealer who receives the first card will deal the next hand.
In professional games at card rooms, a separate person referred to as the “dealer” physically deals the cards, but he does not play. Since the deck resides with the stationary dealer, a round disk called a dealer's button or simply the “button,” is placed in front of the player sitting in the dealer's seat. For rounds after the first round of a hand, the person on the button or dealer's seat has an advantage, because he acts last on his hand after viewing the actions of the other players. For the first round, the player who puts up the largest ante or straddle buys the advantage of being the last to act, albeit at a price. In card rooms generally the names of new players are put a list or queue, and they have to wait for an opening at a table or until there are enough new players to set up a new table before they can be seated and begin playing. In card rooms, active players can generally request a transfer to another table that has a vacant seat.
Many people are now playing poker on the Internet. A number of companies host games by having a website or URL, such as Party Poker and Poker Stars. The host sites generally offer a variety of games, and the number of players in a game will vary. The same type of game may be offered with a different maximum number of players. The lower the maximum number of players, the less the quality of the hand necessary to “call” and the faster the game. Where fifty-five hands an hour might be played in a nine player game, one hundred hands an hour might be played in a six player game.
A popular online poker game in the United States is Hold 'Em, and at times it comprises approximately eighty percent of the online games played. Four other popular games with a smaller percentage of the market include Four Card Omaha High, Four Card Omaha 8OB (high-low eight or better), Seven Card Stud High and Seven Card Stud 8OB. Other U.S. games comprise a smaller percentage of the market. The relative popularity of these and other games typically changes over time. There are also numerous other poker games, including foreign poker games.
In poker games, it is possible for two or more people to play together in collusion (a form of cheating). To do this, the players may use signals designed to keep other players from discovering their scheme. Although Internet and other organizations providing electronic play do their best to eliminate collusion, it can be a major problem. In some cases an online poker player can play two hands at the same table under two different names. The cheater may login by dialing different servers using different login names. The servers may have different Internet or IP addresses, and there is no reliable method for identifying or tracking a person playing under two different names at the same table.
Besides collusion, another problem with poker play is boredom. Players typically respond serially in a clockwise fashion, each being forced to wait his turn, even if the player just intends to fold. Then, when a player's turn comes and he folds, he has to wait for the hand to end before he becomes active again. In some cases, online poker sites attempt to allow players to remain more active by letting players play at more than one table at a time. To do this, a player may open a second window and play at two different tables at the same time. This activity, referred to as “double dipping” in poker jargon, does afford a player more action by allowing him to play twice as many hands per hour. However, it is not seamless. There are frequent times when the player is idle at both tables, and there are times when he will need to respond concurrently at both tables. In other cases, online poker sites move players to the next available new table when the player becomes inactive either by folding or remaining in the hand until the end. This type of game is generally over twice as fast when compared to a game where folded players remain at the same table until the completion of the hand. Some players find this type of game too fast because the action is continuous.